The Braves’ winning streak — 13 games and counting before Friday — began two days after Tim Hudson broke his right ankle July 24. They lost the next day to the Mets, in a game that started 14 hours after Hudson’s horrific injury, and with rookie Alex Wood making his second major league start.
And they hadn’t lost since.
Hudson, who on Friday made his first appearance at Turner Field since the injury and surgery, said he’s been watched intently every Braves game since he went down, and couldn’t be more proud of how the entire team and particularly young pitchers had risen to the occasion.
He also said the Braves' streak before Friday was even more impressive, in a couple of ways, than the 20-game streak he was a big part of with Oakland in 2002, which was featured prominently in the movie Moneyball.
“Honestly, I don’t think in Oakland we ever played as good as we’re playing now,” Hudson said. “We won a lot of games in Oakland during that 20-game winning streak that we probably should have lost, especially toward the end of it.”
Hudson went 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in five starts during the Oakland streak, the no-decision coming in the 20th win when he was charged with five runs (two earned) in 6-2/3 innings and the Athletics rallied to beat Kansas City, 12-11.
“We definitely didn’t beat the teams like the Cardinals, and the Nationals and the Phillies, and a team like the Rockies,” Hudson said, naming teams the Braves swept in the past two weeks. “I know a lot of their records aren’t as good as they’d like them to be, but they’re definitely teams that can beat you on any given night, with ease. And we’ve went out there and handled our business really well. It’s exciting.”
Hudson said he’s confident he’ll heal completely and continue his career next season. He hopes it’ll be with the Braves, but the 38-year-old right-hander will be eligible for free agency after the season and knows there’s a chance he won’t be re-signed.
For now, he’s not concerned with that. He just wants to prop up his casted ankle and keep cheering for his teammates.
“This sucks, what happened to me,” he said, “but I’m so fired up for how the team’s been doing, and the opportunities that Alex Wood has, and having (Brandon) Beachy coming back from his Tommy John…. And then the other guys at the top of the rotation have been going out and just been lights-out every time. It makes me being able to swallow this a little bit easier, because the guys have really picked up some slack and taken pride in going out there and not letting this hurt our team.
“If we were losing, it would really suck. Like I said, this is brutal for me, but our team has been looking really good. Not that this is any kind of rallying thing or whatever, but guys have really stepped up, especially from a pitching standpoint, a starting rotation standpoint. Guys have done a really good job.
“The offense, man, has just been so much fun to watch. Having a chance to finally sit back and watch our guys play, to see how good we look – obviously I don’t think we’ve looked this good all year, but sitting back and watching this the last couple of weeks, you’re like, golly, how can we play any better?
“That’s the sign of a true championship team, is to be able to overcome injuries to key players on your club. And I think we’ve shown we’ve been able to do that all year.”
